O'Connell, Matthew C.
216.928.4530
Matt O’Connell has over 23 years experience representing the interests of product manufacturers and their insurers in products liability cases involving a wide range of devices and materials. He is responsible for coordinating the firm’s environmental and toxic tort practice. Matt has particular expertise in handling cases involving asbestos, silica, benzene, lead, vinyl chloride, and welding fumes.
Matt represents a wide range of clients, including the manufacturers of automobiles, railroad cars, recreational boats, industrial fluid sealing products, refractory materials, industrial boilers and marine equipment. Since joining the Bar in 1983, Matt has tried or litigated cases involving automotive products, employment discrimination, insurance coverage, industrial tools, transportation and motor vehicle accidents, legal professional liability and marine negligence. In addition to a current environmental and toxic tort docket numbering in the thousands, Matt is currently involved in a nationally known, multi-plaintiff mining accident case, as well as the defense of insurance coverage litigation for lead paint liability.
Admitted to the Bars of Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, as well as numerous Federal courts, Matt is a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel, the John M. Manos Inn of Court, and numerous other bar organizations. Fluent in Spanish, he has previously represented the interests of several Latin American insurers in litigation all over the United States.
Matt has also been named as a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America. This honor is awarded to attorneys who are among the elite trial and appellate lawyers within their practice areas throughout the United States.
The Litigation Counsel of America is a trial lawyer honorary society established to reflect the face of the American bar. Membership is limited, representing less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers and is by invitation only. The composition of the LCA is aggressively diverse, with recognition of excellence among American litigation and trial counsel across all segments of the bar. The purpose of the LCA is to recognize deserving, experienced, and highly qualified lawyers, to provide an additional outlet for scholarly authorship of legal articles on trial and litigation practice, to provide additional sources for professional development, to promote superior advocacy and ethical standards in the practice of law, and to assist in community involvement by its membership.
Matt resides in suburban Cleveland and is the father of seven children.
Education:
University of Wisconsin-Madison (B.A., 1979); Case Western Reserve University (J.D., 1983).
